


SOS

by honestgrins



Series: To Rely on the Kindness of Strangers [20]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Day One - All Human, F/M, klarolineauweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-06-01 14:17:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6523534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: KC: I usually talk to my friends through morse code in class but… apparently you know morse too… and now you know I think your butt is cute</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Klaus cocked his head, the only indication that he noticed something odd about the constant tapping of pens clacking on the table behind him. It wasn't rhythmic or constant, someone just bored of the lecture and needing some outlet for activity.

The noise actually reminded him of Henrik's latest obsession. His little brother had been practicing Morse Code incessantly, and he could almost place the familiar patterns among the clicking pens behind him.

Wait, that was Morse Code.

The dots and dashes didn't sound too different, but the variation was just enough to clue him into a covert conversation occurring.

Curious, Klaus looked behind him to see two girls at the table in question. Despite their obvious boredom, they still seemed to be focused on the teacher. It was only Klaus's first day at Mystic Falls High, and he had yet to officially meet most of the students. He must have made a mistake in guessing the source of the code, though. These girls were wearing cheerleading outfits, hardly the WWII enthusiasts Henrik was to learn Morse in the first place.

Until the blonde idly clicked her pen on the table, quick and practiced as the other girl pretended to take notes as she inscribed the message.

Klaus was tempted to lean back to steal a peek, but it would have been too obvious. The pretty blonde had already glanced over him when he turned back, and Klaus had no desire to draw further attention to himself in case he could catch onto what they were saying.

Luckily for him, Henrik had given him a "How to Hear Morse Code" worksheet he kept in his planner. As the teacher kept lecturing on whatever nonsense passed for a high school curriculum in the states, Klaus slyly pulled out the chart and turned to a clean page in his notebook. The blonde was still clicking away, and he was determined to listen in. He carefully followed the chart like Henrik taught him, right on DITs and left on DAHs.

All he caught was the last couple of words, but they were clearly talking about him.

DIMPLES SERIOUSLY

Smirking, Klaus waited for the other girl to respond.

YOU DO NEED A REBOUND

His eyes widened in surprise, not that he would mind working out whatever lingering tension the blonde might have had. The accent worked wonders on girls he'd met since moving here, what's one more?

NO WAY ELENA WAS SNIFFING AROUND AND I DO NOT NEED ANOTHER ONE OF HER CASTOFFS

Klaus wanted to scoff, remembering the girl who had tried to play it cool with him in his last class. He only flirted because she was a dead ringer for Elijah's ex-girlfriend, and it would have been funny to bring her home to meet him. Regardless, the blonde continued clicking away.

MATT WAS BAD ENOUGH

Klaus bristled, the blonde really was on the rebound. He wasn't here to get in the middle of petty drama when all he wanted to was to graduate and get the hell away from his parents. Keep his head down and make it through, that was what he promised himself.

YOU DESERVE SOME FUN CARE

Care. So the blonde had a name, if the other cheerleader's clicks were to be trusted.

"Care" sighed before clicking again.

I GUESS HE DOES HAVE A CUTE BUTT

With a smirk, Klaus couldn't hold back a chuckle. This conversation was a delightful distraction and an ego boost, to boot.

"Okay, everyone," Mr. Saltzman called out, signaling the end of his lecture just as the bell rang. "Don't forget your paper on global conflict is due tomorrow, and it's worth a third of your grade."

Klaus shrugged his bag onto his shoulder; as a new student, he was automatically excused from prior assignments. He definitely didn't want to miss the girls packing up behind him, though.

The blonde had lagged behind, packing up her stuff. Stepping closer, Klaus kept his voice low. "Cute butt, huh?"

She froze, glancing up with a furious blush. She seemed to be considering her options before stubbornly crossing her arms and cocking her hip. "I'm not sure what you mean," she snapped.

"I'll admit," he sighed. "I didn't expect cheerleaders to be trading notes in Morse Code."

Realizing the game was up, she relaxed, resigned. "Look, I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I totally do not support objectification, and I wouldn't have said it if I knew you could overhear. No one needs that on their first day."

"It's no skin off my nose, sweetheart," Klaus said with a shrug. "Good for confidence and all."

Satisfied he had accepted her apology, she moved to leave, only for him to block her path.

"But I do think it earns me your name," he said, meaningfully arching a brow.

She opened her mouth to retort, but she swallowed her annoyance at his blockade in the name of welcoming a new student. "Caroline Forbes," she answered, pointedly stepping around him. "And I will take back my apology if you make me late to chem."

Klaus was content, mulling over the name he now had to the face. That was, until Caroline whirled around to wave her finger in his face.

"And excuse you," she spat. "Bonnie and I might be cheerleaders, but we're also top of the class and totally prone to going over the top on projects. Forgive us, oh snooty British guy, for daring to retain some covert knowledge from our WWII project."

With that, Caroline whirled right back around and out the door.

Determined to follow her, Klaus could only hope her feisty demeanor leant to more promising encounters. He let out an unmanly yelp, though, when he all but ran into her crossed arms just outside.

"And if you were really so much smarter than us poor cheerleaders," she teased venomously, "then you wouldn't have let us know you were listening. Who knows how much dirt you'll miss now that we know not to use Morse Code around you?" With a triumphant grin, she spun and melted into the crush of high school students.

While Klaus might have felt like an idiot, he just felt intrigued at the girl who just soundly put him in his place.

Game on, Caroline Forbes.


	2. Navigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: From nemesis729, "Thanks for the fic, SOS. I would definitely love to read a sequel! Pretty please?"

Being a new student in a small school was like having a spotlight on you all the time. Klaus constantly felt eyes on him, as his peers had quickly labeled him a "troublesome loner" with his leather necklaces and inability to care about basic niceties. Most of the students had written him off, leaving him to his own devices. Honestly, Klaus preferred it that way.

Except Caroline Forbes was giving him the silent treatment, and he hated it.

True, he had mucked up their first meeting pretty well. Implying that cheerleaders were shallow and dumb wasn't the smartest move to try on a cheerleader, but Klaus wasn't deterred in the least. If anything, he was only further intrigued by the girl who stubbornly used Morse Code to pass secret messages in class.

Klaus had been ecstatic in their next history class when she continued to tap out notes to her friend Bonnie, and he dutifully wrote out the code using Henrik's chart. Unfortunately for him, Caroline had raised the stakes in their little game; all the letters he heard formed gibberish. The cunning blonde had managed to send codes within a code.

Each morning, he faithfully captured the coded message, only to spend the rest of the day breaking the puzzle. They were mostly substitution ciphers, but the rules changed every day. It took focus, but Klaus managed every time. He didn't even care about the hidden conversations, it was about proving to Caroline that he could keep up - that he was invested. He slid each completed message into her locker by the end of the day, often with a drawing on the back.

One day, it was her tattoo. The bird on her wrist was faint, but very her.

The pom pom that inevitably fell out of her bag next to his desk.

Her irritated scowl as she passed him in the classroom.

Klaus couldn't stop, everything about her drew him in. He found himself wishing he had more than just history class with her, if only for an excuse to talk to her, a chance to acquit himself of that terrible first impression.

When he finally got that chance, though, Klaus wished it had just passed him by.

"Klaus?"

He looked up in horror, the familiar voice coming at the worst time as he sat in the Sheriff's station, waiting for his mother to pick him up. "Go away, Caroline," he said, hiding his face from her concern.

"What's wrong," she asked, moving to sit next to him. She worried when he refused to even glance her way. "Are you in trouble?"

When he didn't say anything, she tried to lighten the mood. "I've got an in with the Sheriff, I might be able to help."

It was unfortunate for him that said Sheriff happened to be his crush's mother, especially since she was the one to pick him up while sleeping at the falls. Vagrancy wasn't allowed for minors, apparently, and the bruises on his face didn't really endear him to law enforcement anyway.

"Seriously, Klaus," Caroline groaned, pulling his chin toward her. She gasped when the black eye and blue jawbone were displayed prominently. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered, shrugging her off him. "Leave me alone."

She sat there quietly, folding her hands in her lap. Klaus wondered why she wouldn't just leave, and had been about to yell when she narrowed her eyes. "I kept your drawings," she said, surprising him. "I know I act like I don't care, that you're the biggest pain in my ass at school. But, I do care. I like the way you draw me, and I like that you work like hell to figure out what Bonnie thinks about Jeremy's new haircut." Caroline stared down at her knees, everything about her posture screaming discomfort with the situation. "If someone's hurting you, I want to know. I want to help stop it."

"Your mother thinks I've been getting in fights, running away from home," he said angrily, kicking his foot out at nothing.

"Because she doesn't know why running can make you feel free," Caroline answered mysteriously, still not meeting his eyes. "I run away from home all the time, I just make it back before she realizes I've gone. Not that she'd care."

For someone who didn't want drama or ties to the area, Klaus felt immensely protective over Caroline and the vulnerability she was showing him. "At least she's not the one making you run," he answered softly, jolting a bit when Caroline's hand slid into his. He had no desire to explain about Mikael or the bruises on his face, but Klaus felt at peace knowing that Caroline didn't need the explanation.

She could read his coded messages just fine.

* * *

It was surprisingly easy being Caroline Forbes' friend. She effortlessly weaved him into her social group, inviting him to the game, the Grill, or parties. Bonnie let him into their Morse Code club, laughing when she caught him staring longingly after their mutual friend.

"She likes you, you know," Bonnie told him at the bonfire, nodding to where Caroline fought with the keg. "This whole 'no time for boys' thing has totally gone out the window since you moved here."

"Maybe," Klaus said, smiling into his red Solo cup. He was content to leave it at that, though, waving when Caroline sent irritated expressions his way as the tap refused to give her more beer. He laughed, walking toward her to lend a hand. A tipsy Caroline leaned into him, placing a sloppy kiss on his cheek in thanks when he managed to get the keg tapped.

Klaus felt like a hero that night.

He was very familiar with Caroline's no-boys policy, a product of bad decisions with terrible boyfriends past. Knowing better than to test her, he contented himself with just being a friend. Most days, they would attempt to make dinner at her house while her mother was working. Klaus was honestly concerned she would burn the house down without some sort of supervision.

"Did you...burn water?"

"Shut up and just fix it."

Laughing, Klaus moved the boiling pot off the burner, a gross residue getting worse the longer it stayed on the heat. "The pot probably wasn't clean," he figured, going back to the tomatoes he was chopping for the sauce.

"I'm blaming you for that," Caroline accused. She drained the pot in the sink, filling it with cold water so she could wash it perfectly. "You clearly skimped on dishwashing duty last night."

"Whatever you say, love," he chuckled.

She was suspiciously quiet, and Klaus turned to find her watching him. "What?"

"You called me love."

He grinned nervously, shrugging. "I'm British," he explained half-heartedly.

Nodding, she smiled a bit too widely to be sincere. "Right," she sighed, turning back to the sink.

Klaus realized she was disappointed; like an idiot, he had just passed up the opportunity to prove himself as more than just a friend to her. "Caroline-"

"It's fine, Klaus, really," she insisted.

Reaching for her wrist, he pulled her to face him, though she avoided his eyes. "Caroline," he said, needing to be clear in his communication. "I've liked you since you were just the cheerleader using Morse Code to pass notes in class."

"You're the nerd who understood it," she muttered mulishly.

He laughed, brushing her hair over her shoulder. His fingers lingered over her neck, the soft touch finally bringing her eyes up to his. "You're the one who vehemently denied romantic distractions during your senior year," he pointed out, pleased to see her gaze fall to his lips. "Have you changed your mind?"

Caroline bit her lip, as though to hide a smile. Leaning a hand on the counter behind her, her fingernail tapped out a simple message.

YES

Klaus didn't even need Henrik's chart to figure it out.

Smirking, he cupped her face in his hands to pull her toward him. As their lips met, he'd never felt more at home in Mystic Falls than he did while kissing Caroline Forbes.


End file.
